Resolved
unanimously: that the minutes of the meeting held on 31 January
2019 were approved as a true and correct record.

With regards to the actions arising Cllr
Stretton reported that the Director and Lead Member had contacted
her that day providing updates. Details
of the Braywick Leisure Centre were
still outstanding and she would be meeting with the Lead Member and
Director to discuss Norden Farm’s
SLA.

164.

Windsor Leisure Centre

To discuss the offer at the leisure
centre.

Minutes:

The Panel were addressed by a Windsor Leisure
Centre (WLC) member. Mrs Driver
informed that the WLC was always a positive and friendly
establishment and one of the good things done was when the gym
upstairs was extended and a spin studio that provided views over
the river.

Four years ago Legacy Leisure were awarded the
contract to run the borough leisure centres and although many had
reservations she did not as it was expected that there would be
investment. She was disappointed that
she was wrong. They undertook many bad
plans without consultation in an attempt to improve the WLC
including moving the spin centre from room to room.

Mrs Driver reported that over the years she
was aware that there had been many complaints and Facebook comments
about the WLC. Local councillors had
been informed yet the centre continued to decline. Mrs Driver had circulated by email many examples
of complaints to Panel Members prior to the meeting.

Mrs Driver informed that reports that the
issues contained within her email had been resolved were not true
and that the problems continued. She
said that Legacy were letting the council down, they were not
delivering and adhering to their mission statement. The WLC reputation was at stake and fees were
increasing whilst running costs were being reduced. She asked that the Panel took action to prevent
continued failings.

The Head of Communities, Enforcement and
Partnerships informed the Panel that he was aware of the concerns
raised by Mrs Driver and that she was in contact with WLC
manager. The contract to run the Royal
Borough Leisure Centres had been awarded on performance of outcomes rather than service
specifications. The WLC had an
excellent mix of facilities and had recently received additional
capital investment.

The Panel were informed that the total number
of users across all leisure centres had increased, however
partially because Furze Platt school had been added to the
provision. That said usage was up and
the number of complaints had decreased.
He was aware of comments made on social media, as highlighted by
Mrs Driver, but they could only count complaints made to the
Council.

He was aware that Mrs Driver had made
complaints to the WLC manager and members of staff and appropriate responses had been
made. The Project Lead responsible for
leisure centres also had an overview of the performance of all
centres within the borough and often made unannounced visits to all
centres. The WLC was also a popular
centre having users coming from outside the borough. He was happy to consider the points raised and
welcomed Panel Member visiting the centre prior to considering any
further action.

The Chairman said that there were a number of
issues to be looked at; the contractual obligations, the offer
being made, those issues which were management obligations for the
centre and any issues raised via the council’s complaints
system. As a commissioning authority
the Panel needed to be assured that contractual obligations were
being monitored and ...
view the full minutes text for item 164.

165.

SportsAble

To receive an update following the first year
of the service level agreement.

Minutes:

The Panel were informed that unfortunately
SportsAble were not able to attend the
meeting and that they would present at the next appropriate
panel.

Angela Gallagher, Library and
Resident Services Lead to update the Panel on the reviewed
and updated library policies.

Minutes:

The Panel reviewed updated library policies
that included:

-
Customer Care Standards

-
Child Safety

-
Displays and Exhibitions

-
Access Policy

-
Enquiries Standards

-
Physical Presentation and Appearance Standards

-
Public Computer WIFI and Internet Access Policy

The Library and Resident Contact Lead informed
the Panel that the policies were reviewed every three
years. The Libraries within the Royal
Borough were well used with over 1million visits and over 68% of
residents having library cards. The
largest user group were residents aged between 16 to 24 years of
age. There had been a full merger with
customer services and cross training was provided.

Cllr Stretton mentioned that she had received
concern from residents that since customer services had moved into
libraries there was embarrassment when waiting to have private
issue to be dealt with. The Panel were
informed that there were private interview rooms and that when a
customer was called all that should be heard is their name and not
the issue being discussed. Training was
in place and there had not been any complaints about this for some
time.

Cllr Shelim praised the libraries and informed
that his family were regular users, he asked about any concern with
young users mixing with adults. The
Panel were informed that safeguarding was taken very seriously and
that it was important to have a safe place for all. Staff received safeguarding training that was
regularly refreshed. Libraries also had
users who may have mental health conditions and staff were trained
to help them and deal with any issues that may arise. Libraries are
a shared space and users should have consideration for
others. There are areas for children
that are kept safe places to be.

The Chairman mentioned that they were
excellent policies but there could be better clarification around
issues such as parental responsibilities to help protect staff and
users. It should also be clear that
with any safeguarding issues that they will be reported to the
appropriate bodies. Cllr Cox agreed
that the policies should try and avoid staff having a duty of care
and thus being liable for users who should have parental
supervision.

The Panel were informed that there had been
incidents were a child had been left in a library whilst the parent
went into town. Libraries were not day
care centres and social services would be contacted if
required.

The Panel noted the updated policies.

167.

The Old Court-One Year On

To receive a verbal update.

Minutes:

Martin Deny, Director The Old
Court, attended the meeting to provide
an update on the Old Court Windsor as it had been a year since the
service level agreement had been agreed.

The Panel were informed that The Old Court was
an historical building in Windsor that was opened as a performing
art space in March 2018. The aim was to
create a programme that was:

·
Well reputed of high quality.

·
Allow people of all ages from across the community access to
inspiring, quality Arts programmes and practitioners.

·
Inspired by and builds upon the unique
history of The Old Court via meaningful arts participation for all
ages.

·
Make TOC Arts Centre the recognised community arts HUB in Windsor,
Slough, Maidenhead and the wider area.

·
Based upon lasting partnerships and relationships across the
community that make the community more cohesive and bring about
positive change.

·
Utilising the facility and staff broad range of skills set to
further develop.

The Panel were informed that 6 months after
opening an external SWOT analysis was undertaken to identify
strengths and opportunities as well as areas to develop to realise
their education ambitions.

Part of the SWOT analysis informed that there
had not been a cinema in Windsor for 35 years and so a partnership
was undertaken with ND Cinema Ltd and Windsor and Eton
Brewery. This provided a cinema and bar
who both paid 20% of gross takings to support The Old Court
community interest company. Other
achievements in 2018 were:

·
Refurbished building to a high standard, providing an Arts Centre
which could serve the community professionally and to a high
standard of performance of all kinds.

·
100 live events.

·
Work with Armed Forces veterans and with the Homeless.

·
Unique experiences such as Living Advent Calendar and Snowman with
live orchestra.

Between March 2018 to February 2019 there had
been 33640 attendees, a range of health and wellbeing classes with
17 classes per week and 1305 attendees per month. The facilities could also be hired with 24
community hires, 100 events marketed by the venue and 6 corporate
hires.

The Panel were informed that for 2019 here
were plans to increase the audience by better presentation of
events, better marketing, developing its brochure and better use of
social media. There would also be
further development of its community and education programme and
live cinema screenings such as the Royal Opera House.

Looking ahead the Panel were informed that
there would be continued development of its school education plan
and school engagement. There would also
be work to target senior citizens as potential audiences and
volunteers. The Panel were also shown a
list of 19 existing community organisations that they had working
relationships with. There was a list of
community programme ideas across all ages to help focus on youth,
young and older adults. The
future strategy included:

The Panel noted the work programme to include
Windsor LC, Braywick and Oaks
LC. It was agreed that prior to a site
visit to the Windsor LC the Panel would like to consult with the
Lead Member, officers and Cllr E Wilson.